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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23559307">let's taco-bout it</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylorithic/pseuds/kylorithic'>kylorithic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Co-workers, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Making Out, Oh No He's Hot, there's a parks and rec reference, they eat tacos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:21:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,613</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23559307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylorithic/pseuds/kylorithic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey shouldn’t care, she really shouldn’t care, because Ben from HR is a capital-A asshole, always finding a way to challenge her when they have interdepartmental meetings and giving her shit for not wearing a cardigan over her tank tops (it gets hot in her office, she argues, and if someone gets offended by her shoulders, it’s their own damn fault). The guy’s a dick and Rey cannot stand him.</p><p>And yet.</p><p>“We should invite him to join us.” The words are out of her mouth before she even has a chance to process what she’s saying.</p><p> “I’m sorry, are you insane?” Finn looks at her like she grew a second head. “You want to invite Ben Solo to our weekly taco lunch?”<br/><i></i><br/><b>or rey invites ben solo, resident hr grump, to eat tacos. things escalate from there.</b><br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey &amp; Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>587</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>let's taco-bout it</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this started as a silly idea and then exploded into over 5000 words of nonsense and too many italics. follow me twitter at kylorithic, if you feel like! </p><p>enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>

</p><p>“Is he just…eating soup on a bench?” Finn asks, squinting through the front windshield. “Alone?”</p><p>He sounds so flabbergasted that Rey can’t help but look towards where he’s looking, seeing Ben from HR just...sitting there.</p><p>Eating soup. On a bench.</p><p>Alone.</p><p>She has to admit that it’s a depressing sight, even for him.</p><p>“This is making me sad,” Finn mutters, shaking his head and throwing the car into reverse. “Thank god we’re leaving.”</p><p>Rey shouldn’t care, she <i>really</i> shouldn’t care, because Ben from HR is a capital-A asshole, always finding a way to challenge her when they have interdepartmental meetings and giving her shit for not wearing a cardigan over her tank tops (it gets hot in her office, she argues, and if someone gets offended by her shoulders, it’s their own damn fault). The guy’s a dick and Rey cannot stand him.</p><p>
  <i>And yet.</i>
</p><p>“We should invite him to join us.” The words are out of her mouth before she even has a chance to process what she’s saying.</p><p>“I’m sorry, are you <i>insane</i>?” Finn looks at her like she grew a second head. “You want to invite Ben Solo to our weekly taco lunch?”</p><p>She can’t believe she said it either, but it’s out there now and she’s not sure she’d be able to take it back. “Come on, Finn, look at him,” she pleads, gesturing out to where Ben seems to be picking out the carrots from his soup (god, he was so <i>weird</i>). “The guy clearly needs some socialization.”</p><p>Finn scoffs. “Yeah, more like he needs a whole new personality.”</p><p>She can’t really argue with him there. Everyone knows it takes a special kind of person to work in HR, but Ben Solo takes it to a whole new level. He sends out too many department memos and is a stickler for all the rules in the employee handbook, which makes him great at his job and terrible at everything else. The guy is awkward at the best of times and a downright asshole at the worst.</p><p>He seems really...lonely, if she was being honest. Everyone avoids the guy like the plague and she knows that the only person who really talks to him is Poe, because Poe talks to <i>everyone</i>. And if she was being even more honest, it was a shame that she was such a dick because he wasn’t a bad looking guy - he was tall, had dark hair, and gave off broody Edward Cullen vibes. If he wore better fitting suits, one might find him attractive.</p><p>She would never admit that out loud, though.</p><p>Rey rolls her eyes, letting out a sigh. “Look, maybe he’ll stop ratting you out for wearing sneakers when it’s not casual Friday if we’re nice to him.”</p><p>Despite the scowl on his face, Rey knows that Finn’s considering it. He hates the stuffy wardrobe he has to wear all week, but he really despises the dress shoes.</p><p>“It’s one lunch, Finn, he’s not going to murder us.” <i>I hope</i>, she thinks to herself.</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>The car horn is loud and Ben jumps at the sound, spilling some broth out of the container he’s holding on to his shoes. He looks up, glaring, only to be greeted by Rey waving out the passenger window.</p><p>“Hey, Ben!” </p><p>He looks around, as if there was anyone else she would be talking to in the empty parking lot, before looking back at her, confusion written all over his face. “Can I help you?” </p><p>“Wanna come to lunch with us?” she asks, giving him the biggest smile she can muster. She probably looks a bit insane, she’s sure.</p><p>He’s staring at her, almost as if he can’t believe she’s talking to him, and it would be a cute look if he wasn’t <i>Ben from HR.</i></p><p>“You're inviting me to lunch.” It comes out like a statement more than a question. This guy really needed to get out more and learn to have a normal conversation.</p><p>“Well, Finn and I are,” she answers, pointing to the driver's seat. She can hear Finn mumbling to himself about what a terrible idea this is, but he still manages to give a small wave. “We’re getting tacos!”</p><p>She honestly thinks he’s going to reject the invitation, because he just keeps <i>staring</i> at her. It’s a little unnerving to have all of his focus on her, even from a distance, and she shifts in her seat. She’s about to tell Finn to just go when Ben suddenly stands up.</p><p>“Okay, I’ll go.”</p><p>Rey is sure that both her and Finn probably look like a couple deers caught in some headlights as Ben strides over to the car, dropping his soup container in the trash can near the bench. </p><p>“Oh my god, he said yes,” she mumbles, slumping back into her seat. It’s a miracle.</p><p>“This is one hundred percent your fault,” Finn hisses back at her. “If I don’t get to wear sneakers every day for at least a month, you will owe me so much Thai food, I swear to god.”</p><p>Before she has a chance to reply, Ben is opening the door for the back seat and sliding inside. Rey peers at him in the rear view mirror. Even in Finn’s SUV, he looks so big, his knees bent awkwardly in front of him and his shoulders hunched over. Rey’s pretty sure he could make any car he gets in feel like a clown car.</p><p>She wonders if he’s regretting his decision already.</p><p>“Hello,” she tells him, turning in her seat slightly to give him another smile as Finn backs out of the parking lot. </p><p>“...hi.” He won’t even look her in the <i>eye</i>.</p><p>Yeah, the regret is definitely obvious.</p><p>******</p><p>The taco place Finn and Rey usually go to is a small hole in the wall not far from city hall, owned by a tiny woman named Maz. The service is, frankly, abysmal because Maz seems to only hire idiots, but the tacos are a religious experience and Rey couldn’t imagine not ever coming back.</p><p>Ben seems to stick out like a sore thumb, looking just as awkward as she’s sure he feels. He’s the only one who ever seems to wear a full suit to work everyday, most of the other men in the office sticking to the more casual button-up-slacks combo, and surrounded by nothing but students from the nearby community college, he looks just silly.</p><p>It would be adorable if it wasn’t so damn awkward.</p><p>All three of them are standing in line, but Finn is very pointedly not making any eye contact and keeps his gaze firmly on the menu above the register. Rey knows that he’s already given up on even <i>speaking</i> to Ben, since the entire ten minute car ride here was filled with nothing but silence and the occasional nervous cough. </p><p>Rey glances up at Ben, who manages to tower over her even when she’s in work appropriate heels, and he looks a little...well, lost.</p><p>“You good?” </p><p>He looks down at her, his expression reading like he forgot she was even there, before clearing his throat. “I’ve never been here,” he admits. “I have no idea what to order.”</p><p>She almost wants to laugh, because it’s not like Maz’s menu is complicated - it’s tacos, for fucks sake - but the fact that he’s even here is huge and she doesn’t want to fuck it up by making him think she’s laughing at him. He may be an asshole, but she can be nice when needed.</p><p>“Well, I usually go for the carnitas,” she tells him, pointing up at the menu sign. “They’re amazing and basically the greatest thing you’ll ever eat. They also come in a burrito if you’re anti-taco.”</p><p>Ben makes a face. “Who the hell would be anti-taco?”</p><p>“I don’t know, some sort of sad sack who’s never had a good taco in their life.” </p><p>“I’m sure they think Taco Bell is the height of Mexican cuisine.”</p><p>And is that - did Ben from HR just make a <i>joke</i>? Rey can hardly believe her ears. And if Finn was paying any attention, she’d probably be slapping him in the arm because hell has basically just frozen over.</p><p>Instead, she just smiles at Ben, letting out a small huff of laughter. “You’re probably right,” she tells him, “but I will say that their dollar nachos come in a pinch when one is craving cheap nacho cheese.”</p><p>“Do you...often have nacho cheese cravings?” He’s looking at her like she told him she could walk on water .</p><p>“Are you judging me right now? After I invited you to tacos?”</p><p>His cheeks instantly turn pink and he sputters, shaking his head.</p><p>“I’m not - I mean, it’s weird, yes, but everyone has their own preferences and if you like Taco Bell nacho cheese, that’s your prerogative, who am I to tell you that you’re horribly wrong - not that you’re wrong, I just-“</p><p>It’s been a while since Rey has made anyone look so adorably flustered and she’s honestly loving it, but Ben looks like he’s about to explode from trying to explain himself. She puts her hand on his arm and he instantly stops talking, his gaze laser focused on where she’s touching him.</p><p>“Ben, it’s <i>fine</i>. I have terrible taste in fast food sometimes, it is my burden to bear.”</p><p>She watches as he swallows and nods, still staring at her hand. Now that she’s thinking about it, she’s never actually <i>touched</i> him before, which isn’t that weird. It’s not like she goes around just touching coworkers, but she can’t recall a single instance of her even accidentally brushing against him in passing or bumping into him while trying to exit the elevator at the same time. His arm feels so <i>large</i> against her palm and has he always been so solid underneath these ugly suits he always wore?</p><p>Ben’s tongue peeks out to lick his lips in nervousness or <i>god knows what</i>, and Rey isn’t sure when it got so hot in this damn taco place. She pulls her hand back, brushing her hair behind her ear and focusing back on the menu.</p><p>“So, yeah, the carnitas are good,” she mumbles.</p><p>“The carnitas, right,” he affirms, and if his voice goes up an octave at the end, she pretends she didn’t notice. Finn still hasn’t turned around, too focused on what he’s going to order and she’s never been more annoyed with her best friend in her <i>life.</i></p><p>This is going to be a long lunch.</p><p>——-</p><p>Lunch is, not surprising to anyone, a pretty quiet affair.</p><p>Finn is eating his tacos with an intensity that Rey has never seen from him, speaking only when directly spoken to and even then, his answers are directed at Rey only. Ben ended up ordering the carnitas, and he keeps his focus on the small plate in front of him, glancing at Rey every so often with a <i>different</i> sort of intensity that honestly makes her feel slightly unnerved.</p><p>Rey keeps looking at him between bites of her tacos. Ben eats like he’s never spilled anything on himself before - he’s proper, eats over his plate, and takes normal sized bites. Not like Rey, who practically inhales her food and has ruined more shirts than she’d ever admit to. He put his napkin over his lap, for fuck’s sake. But, weird eating habits aside, she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him look so normal, sitting at a too-small table eating carnita tacos.</p><p>It’s kind of attractive. </p><p>She blames the fact that she hasn’t gotten laid in months on the fact that she’s currently finding herself saying Ben from HR is hot, because that’s the only explanation that makes sense. She’s had sex with worse, honestly, if you count all the poor choices she made in guys back in college. And she did hook up with Snap Wexley last year and that guy was the definition of office weirdo.</p><p>
  <i>Ain’t no shame in her game.</i>
</p><p>She swallows the large bite she had just taken, praying that she doesn’t have salsa all over her face. “So, Ben, how’s office life?”</p><p>Ben seems surprised that she’s addressing him, since she’s mostly been speaking to Finn for the past ten minutes. Finn, who is still staring at the table like it owes him money.</p><p>“Um, it’s fine,” he answers, clearing his throat with a small cough. “Normal HR stuff.”</p><p>“How did you end up head of HR?” she finds herself asking, because this is what one does when <i>trying not to be awkward.</i></p><p>“I started with the city seven years ago. I worked in the admin department as an intern and I sort of just...worked my way over to HR.” </p><p>She nods, even though that’s the shortest explanation she’s ever heard for anyone doing any job. “That’s cool.”</p><p>He doesn’t say anything and takes another bite of his tacos. Finn is still being completely useless and Rey is going to yell at him so much later, once they’ve parted ways with Ben and agree to never do this ever again. Ben obviously doesn’t want to talk to her or even be here and is only doing it because he’s some sort of weird -</p><p>“I like order,” he admits, quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Rules make sense to me, and following them is easy when you’ve never considered yourself a leader.”</p><p>Rey stares at him, surprised at his admission. “I would have never guessed. You always seem like you like being in charge with your position and all.”</p><p>He shakes his head. “I never wanted to be head of the department, but after Snoke had that unexpected health issue, I was the only person who was capable of taking on the role. Everyone else was too inexperienced. So...here I am.”</p><p>This seems like a very personal conversation that they’re having, one that would happen between close friends and not with barely tolerable acquaintances at a hole-in-the-wall taco joint. She feels like Ben just told her a secret, even with Finn sitting right next to them. But Finn is engrossed in something on his phone now, not even bothering to look up.</p><p>“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never seen a better HR person,” she states, giving what she hopes is a totally normal smile. It’s not a lie, Ben really is the best HR person she’s ever seen for how much of a stickler he is for the employee handbook.</p><p>“Thanks,” he replies. She notices the edges of his mouth rise up just slightly and the thought crosses her mind that if he smiled a lot more, he’d look way more cute.</p><p>Finn chooses that moment to choke on a piece of carne asada and Ben hurriedly gets up to get Finn a glass of water. Whatever moment that they were sharing is gone and as Rey pounds on her best friend’s back, she tries to ignore the slight disappointment she feels.</p><p>-------</p><p>Rey is pretty sure that Ben from HR is going out of his way to interact with her.</p><p>Normally, she wouldn’t pay that much attention to it, but he has been showing up in Rey’s section of the building a lot more often than usual. The parks department are frequent violators of the employee dress code - with Finn’s shoe choices and Rose’s affinity for putting colored streaks in her hair - and Ben does tend to poke his head in every so often, but he’s been showing up more than normal and just <i>hanging</i> around. </p><p>He always has a weird excuse, too. One time it was because he needed her to redo her emergency contact sheet. Another was because he had “misplaced” the form she had filled out when they did that sexual harassment seminar last month. Ben never misplaces things, that is a well known fact, and Rey hasn’t changed her emergency contact sheet since she got hired three years ago. </p><p>Something is up and it’s something <i>weird.</i></p><p>It’s been going on for the past week, ever since Ben joined Rey and Finn at the taco lunch, and Rey is getting <i>this</i> close to just barging into his office and asking him what the fuck was up. However, every time she decides to do it, she just...doesn’t. Maybe he really just needs all this paperwork from her.</p><p>Or maybe, the small voice in the back of her head suggests, she just really likes the sudden attention that she’s getting (it’s been <i>six months</i> since she got laid, okay). But she shakes that thought before it could go any further.</p><p>“You invited him to lunch,” Finn tells her when she brings it up one day, not bothering to look up from the Powerpoint he’s working on regarding the proposal to turn Lot 23A into a small dog park. “Maybe he took that as an offering of friendship.”</p><p>“You were at the lunch, too,” she counters. “He hasn’t bothered <i>you</i> at all this week.”</p><p>Finn finally glances up, giving her a pointed look. “I didn’t go out of my way to be nice to the guy, that’s the difference.”</p><p>Rey huffs, slouching back in her chair and crossing her arms. “I made basic human conversation, that doesn’t mean I was going out of my way to be nice to him.”</p><p>“It does to Ben from HR.”</p><p>“That’s stupid and doesn’t make any sense.”</p><p>He shrugs, looking back at his computer. “Listen, it doesn’t have to. Since when has anything Ben from HR done that makes sense?”</p><p>Finn does have a point. Most stuff that Ben does tends to not make any sense unless you’re just as neurotic as he is, and honestly, she’s pretty sure most people are too intimidated to try to challenge the guy. For as awkward as he is, he can be downright terrifying when he’s reprimanding someone for not wearing the right shoes or for making an inappropriate office joke. </p><p>“Well, what am I supposed to do, Finn?”</p><p>“I don’t know, tell him to fuck off?” His keyboard clacks loudly as he aggressively hits the backspace button.</p><p>“Finn, I’m not going to tell the head of HR to <i>fuck off</i>, I like my job, thank you.” </p><p>“You could always just talk to the guy, maybe ask him what’s with the sudden increase in HR presence near your desk. You know, like an adult.”</p><p>“Says the guy who didn’t say <i>one thing</i> to the guy at lunch!”</p><p>“As an adult, I have the right to choose to not interact with someone,” he counters.</p><p>“You’re the least helpful person I have ever met,” she snaps at him, turning around to go back inside her office.</p><p>“Don’t be mad at me because Ben from HR has a crush on you.”</p><p>Rey stops in her tracks, sure that she heard Finn wrong. She turns back to him with a glare on her face.</p><p>“Ben does not have a crush on me.”</p><p>“Sure, he doesn’t,” he sing-songs back at her. “He visits everyone multiple times a week just to have them sign papers that aren’t important and could just be emailed. Ask Poe, he’ll agree with me.”</p><p>“Because Poe is a menace to this department,” she mumbles under her breath.</p><p>“Okay, look, maybe he doesn’t have a crush on you, but you have to admit that before lunch last week, the guy never came in here unless one of us was breaking the dress code. Something obviously changed with him over the lunch we had and we sure as hell know it was not with me.”</p><p>Rey doesn’t bother to answer him, slowly making her way back to her office and slumping down in her desk chair. There’s no way, <i>no way</i>, that Ben likes her. She’s been here three years and interacted with him one too many times, she would know if he had a crush on her. Rey is very good at noticing that type of thing. Most of the time, at least. </p><p>She glares at her monitor, opening up her email to start sorting through the ones that she’s gotten this morning. The proposal Finn is working on is due Monday and she has to figure out if Rose finished running all the numbers for last month to turn in for the audit at the end of the month. There are things to do, things to focus on instead of fucking Ben from HR.</p><p>However, it’s been ten minutes and Rey can’t seem to focus properly. She’s read the same sentence seven times in a row and she’s still not processing it. She glances up on the clock on her wall, seeing that it’s twenty minutes until five. Ben should still be in his office, he would <i>never</i> leave early.</p><p>Realizing she’s not going to get anything done unless she gets some answers, she sighs. With one last look at her opened email, she stands up and makes her way out of the office. She’s going to get to the bottom of this.</p><p>--------</p><p>Rey doesn’t really come to this side of the building often. It’s sort of hidden away, towards the back of city hall and nowhere near the good bathrooms, so she’s never really had any reason to come back here unless she was in trouble for something.</p><p>The halls are pretty empty, since it’s Friday and close to the end of the work day - government employees love leaving early, she’s learned.</p><p>She finds his office easy enough, his door reading his name is large, gold font. She raises her hand to knock but hesitates for just a moment. She is a grown adult woman and she can talk to a grown, adult man about his weird sudden obsession of showing up at her desk. </p><p>She <i>can</i>.</p><p>Rey may knock harder than she intended, but she hears his voice call <i>Come in</i> from inside. She pushes the door open and steps in to see Ben's head bent over his desk. She clears her throat and he looks up, his eyes widening in surprise.</p><p>“Rey! Uh, hi,” he stutters. “I wasn’t, um, expecting you. Here. In my office.” He messes with the small amount of paperwork he has in front of him, shuffling it together before sliding it into a drawer underneath his desk.</p><p>“I can leave if you’re busy…”</p><p>Ben shakes his head a bit too vigorously. “No, no, I was just finishing up some stuff for the day. Have a seat.”</p><p>She sits in the chair on the other side of his desk, giving a quick look at the small amount of items he has arranged on it. A picture frame, his nameplate, a mug that says KEEP CALM AND CALL HR on the side (probably a gift from Poe, the guy has a weird affinity for niche mugs). There’s actually not that much and Rey really shouldn’t be surprised. He doesn’t strike her as the decorating type.</p><p>“Ben, I need to talk to you about something.” </p><p>"Of course." He immediately looks slightly panicked, but his face very quickly morphs into one of all business. "Is this an employee related issue?”</p><p><i>Oh</i>, he thinks she’s here to discuss some sort of HR problem, because why else would she be in here? It’s not like Rey has ever gone out of her way to visit Ben from HR before, because like most of her colleagues, she did her best to stay away from the department. </p><p>“Sort of,” she finds herself saying.</p><p>He nods, turning slightly in his desk chair to open up something on his computer. Probably some sort of questionnaire form or something. She’s never had to come to HR on her own accord, she’s not entirely sure how this works.</p><p>“Is someone making you uncomfortable?” he asks, looking at his screen.</p><p>Rey thinks for a moment, not entirely sure how to answer him. This is weird, right? She should just come out and say it.</p><p>“Rey?” Ben’s looking at her now. </p><p>She has to say <i>something</i>. “I don’t know if I would describe the feeling as uncomfortable. Maybe more...unexpected?” </p><p>That catches him off guard, she can tell by the way he falters a little as he types her response. “Unexpected? In a bad way?”</p><p>She shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so.”</p><p>“Alright.” He clears his throat, glancing at her for a moment before going back to his questionnaire. “Has someone...made advances to you that were not wanted?”</p><p>And that’s the question, isn’t it? Even if Ben has been making some weird, HR related advances on her, would she mind? Maybe last week, before the shared lunch, she would have been annoyed and maybe even put-off. But now, now she kind of knows the guy. He’s not just Ben from HR anymore, he’s a guy who eats tacos like it’s a five star meal and actually dislikes his job. He’s kind of...<i>normal</i>.</p><p>Her hands twist in her lap. “I wouldn’t say they were unwanted. I don’t even know if I would call them advances, if I’m honest.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” he asks, sounding perplexed.</p><p>“I’m not sure what his motivation is, actually. It’s actually kind of confusing.” </p><p>He’s looking at her oddly, as if he’s trying to figure something out. Rey can tell that he’s trying to decide what to ask her next. He probably doesn’t have to deal with this type of ambiguity when taking any sort of complaint normally. “Do you have to work with this person often? See them on a daily basis?”</p><p>She wonders if he’s ever going to make the connection and she figures it might be nice to give him a hint. “Now I do. It’s only been going on for a week or so.” </p><p>Ben pauses, mid keystroke. “A week or so.”</p><p>“I invited this guy to lunch, you see. Me and my friend, Finn.”</p><p>If blushing was an Olympic sport, the red hue that Ben’s face has taken on would win first place. “Right, lunch.” He sounds like he’s about to choke.</p><p>“And he said yes, which I was very surprised by.” She leans back in her chair, crossing her legs and she notices Ben’s gaze track the movement. He licks his lips.</p><p>“Surprised?” </p><p>She nods and he’s still staring at her legs. For a guy who deals with sexual harassment claims all the time, he sure is violating a good chunk of things that the seminar they ended last month touched on with the way he's looking at her. Rey’s finding that she doesn’t really mind though. “Yeah, I didn’t even think the guy could tolerate me before this.”</p><p>He finally looks up, his face a picture of concern. “What makes you say that?”</p><p>“Well, he never spoke to me before unless it was to undermine one of my ideas or make a comment on my outfit,” she answers and she doesn’t sound bitter. She <i>doesn’t.</i></p><p>Ben nods, leaning forward over his desk. “What kind of comments?”</p><p>He’s asking and if there’s anything Rey values, it’s honesty. “He seems fixated on my shoulders and how much I show of them.”</p><p>Ben doesn’t say anything for a moment before he manages to mumble a small, “Oh.”</p><p>“Yeah, I thought it was kind of weird, too.”</p><p>“Weird?” He looks nervous again.</p><p>She shrugs. “It’s not everyday someone comments on your shoulders. But maybe he meant it as a compliment? It would help if I clearly knew what his intentions were.”</p><p>“And...what do you think they are? His intentions, I mean,” he asks, his voice sounding slightly deeper than a few moments ago. Or maybe it’s just her imagination. Rey has no idea when the room got so warm. </p><p>“I’m not sure. I’m honestly a little nervous to ask him.”</p><p>He leans back in his chair, fiddling with the end of his mustard color tie. He really had terrible fashion sense. “What if...what if he’s just as nervous?”</p><p>Ben mumbles the last part so quietly, Rey isn’t sure she heard him right, but she can’t ignore the slight leap her heart seems to do in her chest. “I don’t know, he seems like a pretty straight forward kind of guy.”</p><p>“Maybe he’s coming up with excuses to talk to you because he’s...too afraid to come out and just say it.” He stills talking at his tie, almost as if he’s afraid to look at her. Rey doesn’t think she could be more enthralled if she tried.</p><p>“What would he want to say?” she whispers back.</p><p>His eyes finally come up and he stares at her for a moment before she sees him take a breath, almost as if he’s steeling himself for what he’s about to say next. “I think he’d want to say that you’re extremely pretty and possibly the best parks and rec representative this city’s ever seen.”</p><p>As a woman, Rey has had her fair share of people hit on her, but there’s something about the genuine honesty in Ben’s voice that causes her breath to catch in her throat. She’s pretty sure she’s gaping at him, but the warmth in Ben’s eyes causes her to believe that it doesn’t really matter what she looks like right now. His opinion is set.</p><p>And because she’s a selfish person, deep down -- “What else do you think he’d say? If you had to guess.” She doesn’t even dare to blink.</p><p>“Maybe he wants to tell you how much he enjoyed your company at lunch the other day and has been trying to figure out for the past week how to ask if you want to get dinner sometime.” He sounds much more sure of himself than he did five minutes ago and Rey suddenly feels even warmer. He is being the sweetest guy in the world right now and all she can think about is how solid he felt the other day, how he’s probably hiding a <i>ridiculous</i> body under his terrible suit.</p><p>Before she can second guess herself, Rey suddenly stands up. </p><p>Ben’s face immediately changes to one of worry, and he stands up, wobbling a little in his haste to do so. He’s like an awkwardly tall baby giraffe. “I’m sorry, Rey, I shouldn’t have said that, I don’t know what came over me, I’m so sor---”</p><p>“Ben, shut up.” He immediately closes his mouth.</p><p>Standing in front of him, she’s aware that this may be a terrible idea, but she’s too far gone to change her mind. He’s so damn tall and he’s looking down at her like he’s afraid, but that warmth in his eyes is still there, but now she sees a sort of <i>hunger</i> in them. If she wasn’t so sure before, she can definitely say it now:</p><p>Ben Solo is extremely hot.</p><p>Taking the end of his tie in her hand, she plays with the fabric and looks up at him from underneath her lashes.</p><p>“And what’s the policy for dating a co-worker?”</p><p>She sees him swallow and, fuck, if it’s not turning her on just watching him slowly fall apart without her even really <i>doing</i> anything. “Well, um, as long as they aren’t in the same department and don’t directly report to one another, there’s really no issue. There’s some paperwork you have to fill out -”</p><p>Ben doesn’t get a chance to finish because Rey yanks him down by his tie and presses her mouth against his. It’s awkward at first - she may have pulled him down a smidge too much, and he’s hunched over at a weird angle. She keeps kissing him though, because even though it’s something she <i>just</i> decided to do, it’s the best idea she’s had today. Then, it’s as if something clicks, because suddenly she feels his hands on her hips and twisting them around, pressing her against his desk as her tongue traces the seam of his mouth. She wraps her arms around his neck, one hand finding the too long hair on the back of his neck and giving a small tug. Something blooms in her chest at the small groan Ben lets out against her lips. </p><p>Who knew Ben from HR could kiss like this? Who knew Ben from HR was capable of grabbing someone’s ass like he was currently doing to Rey’s? His hands are so large, she can’t stop the mental picture of his fingers filling her up in the best way possible and she hears herself let out a moan. </p><p>He presses against her even more, his body a solid hot mass against hers and Rey can’t help but grind against where his leg is situated between hers, trying to get some sort of friction, some sort of heat -</p><p>Ben breaks away from her with a small gasp, his chest rising and falling quickly as he tries to catch his breath. Rey stares at him.</p><p>“Why’d you stop?” Her voice comes out more like a whine.</p><p>His mouth twists into a small smile and he glances over her shoulder to the door. “We’re in my office. Someone could walk in.”</p><p>She rolls her eyes. “No one is going to walk into the HR department at 4:55 on a Friday, Ben.”</p><p>He’s still smiling at her and she’s not pouting, she’s not.</p><p>“Is that a yes to dinner then?” he asks, and Rey can’t help the laugh that escapes her. His face falls a little, and she has to fix that <i>immediately</i>. She cradles his cheeks in her hands and presses a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.</p><p>“Only if we can get tacos.”</p><p>The answering grin she gets makes her stomach flop - Ben from HR was going to <i>ruin her.</i></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>still no sexy times from me.</p><p>one day, folks, one day. </p><p>(also, i have never worked in hr, please do not come for me if this is TERRIBLY inaccurate.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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